The fashion world is still reeling from the loss of Giorgio Armani, the man who dressed generations in quiet power and timeless elegance. At 91, Armani left behind not just a legacy stitched into every well-cut jacket and gown, but also a final set of instructions that show he was thinking as sharply about the future as he did about the perfect lapel.His handwritten will, revealed last week, lays out a clear roadmap. Within 18 months of his death, his heirs are to sell a 15 per cent stake in the company he built. Over the next three to five years, that share will rise by another 30 to 54.9 per cent, passed on to a single buyer. If the sale doesn’t happen, the Armani empire is to be floated on the stock market.What’s fascinating is how deliberate his choices were. Armani didn’t leave the brand’s destiny up in the air. He pointed to giants – LVMH, L’Oréal, EssilorLuxottica, as his preferred buyers, each already linked to his business through partnerships in beauty, eyewear, and luxury retail. The message is clear: if Armani’s house is to live on, it should do so in the hands of those who understand its DNA.
Giorgio Armani
This level of foresight feels very Armani. He was never one to court chaos. From the moment he co-founded the company in the 1970s with his late partner Sergio Galeotti, Armani kept a tight grip, both creatively and financially. He was the sole shareholder of an empire that stretched from Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange to couture, hotels, restaurants, and fragrance. And he remained at the helm, always working, always present, until the very end.Yet even with such dominance, his brand wasn’t immune to the shifts shaking the luxury industry. Revenues hovered around €2.4 billion in 2024, steady but not soaring, as younger shoppers turned away from classic formalwear. Armani, true to himself, refused to chase fleeting trends. His clothes were about permanence, not virality.That’s perhaps why his will resonates so deeply. For a man who had no children, his company was his family, his legacy, his life’s work. Entrusting it to the Armani Foundation and carefully guiding his successors shows a deep awareness: fashion changes, but structure endures. His final gesture was about protection.
Designer Giorgio Armani, centre, poses with models at the end of his women’s 2019 Spring-Summer collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan (AP)
The names in his will also spark intrigue. Could Armani eventually join Bernard Arnault’s LVMH juggernaut, standing alongside Dior and Louis Vuitton? Could L’Oréal build on Armani Beauty’s strength and bring the whole house under its wing? Or would Luxottica, his eyewear partner, shape a future no one quite expects?The passing of Armani feels like the closing of one of fashion’s last great chapters. After Karl Lagerfeld’s death, after Versace’s sale, Armani was the rare figure who embodied complete independence. He was the brand. Now the empire he built must find its next home.
FILE – Fashion designer Giorgio Armani, center, runs on the catwalk as he acknowledges the applause of the audience after presenting the Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2005 collection, in Milan, Italy, Sept. 27, 2004. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
Still, in typical Armani style, nothing has been left to chance. His final act was as precise and considered as his tailoring, clean, structured, and designed to last. Even in death, Giorgio Armani has set the tone.
